Senna Memories - Imola

I'm here for World Superbike, and earlier today (Thursday) I walked the track to scope it out as I haven't ever been here before.

I know that there's an "official" Senna memorial in the park on the inside of the corner, but what I found more moving was the dying, old and still heartfelt memorials to a racer that so many people loved...many of which, by weather and aging have now been completely decimated, but there's still a few that make this little area somewhat special.

Thank you Andrew.Great photo, amazing when you think about how long it has been and how many still remember so personally.

idd, 15 years already, i was merely a child, only 8yrs old and i remember that weekend and all the drama that followed so well. I wonder if they have a memorial for Ratzenberger too though, I've never been at Imola.

Oh, what a wonderful and sad photo, thank you Andrew. I remember Imola 1994 like it was yesterday...I still remember every single thing that happened that weekend. For me, F1 has never been the same since.

I had no emotional attachment to the guy whereas Gilles' death and Ronnie's death did impact on me as they were personal heroes, I never liked Senna as a driver after what he did to Prost so my feeling was "live by the sword die by the sword" with regards to Senna, he was without doubt the best driver I have ever seen but his death made little impact on me really

He died doing something he loved, better way for a gladiator to go than dying of cancer in a bed or getting alzheimers and not remembering his families names

I had no emotional attachment to the guy whereas Gilles' death and Ronnie's death did impact on me as they were personal heroes, I never liked Senna as a driver after what he did to Prost so my feeling was "live by the sword die by the sword" with regards to Senna, he was without doubt the best driver I have ever seen but his death made little impact on me really

He died doing something he loved, better way for a gladiator to go than dying of cancer in a bed or getting alzheimers and not remembering his families names

It may be a fine thing to die like a gladiator but probably not driving your nuts off to keep ahead of a car that subsequently found to be illegal on a number of counts (illegal start control, TC, refuelling anomalies etc etc). To me the recent events surrounding Flav et all were the beginings of karmas payback. How the Benetton people slept at night during that period I shall never know.

Props to you Maczippy for the photo, thats got to be a special place to visit just so one can be alone with ones thoughts and thank the great man for all the special moments he brought us, mostly via the gogglebox but occasionally trackside, from Thruxton 83 to the podium at Adelaide in 93. The greatest driver who ever will be, and I mean that completely because todays PR based, camera in face F1 will never let a true living legend like Ayrton, with his amazing world view and his spooky ability on track, reign over us.

A.E. Housman's poem 'To an athlete dying young' sums it all up.
For some drivers it seemed somehow inevitable that they should die young.

'Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.'

Because it's so true, isn't is?
For instance: the graves and memorials of drivers who died young are mostly very well flowered.
Drivers who died later in life or of old age, well, their graves are mostly overgrown.
I wouldn't have liked that for Ayrton to have happened.

I had no emotional attachment to the guy whereas Gilles' death and Ronnie's death did impact on me as they were personal heroes, I never liked Senna as a driver after what he did to Prost so my feeling was "live by the sword die by the sword" with regards to Senna, he was without doubt the best driver I have ever seen but his death made little impact on me really

He died doing something he loved, better way for a gladiator to go than dying of cancer in a bed or getting alzheimers and not remembering his families names

Sad how someone would say that he was the best driver you had ever seen but his death "made little impact on me really", and even worse that he should "die by the sword", all because of a single shunt with Prost. I do not consider you a true fan of the sport but apparently a person who seeks the worst in people and insists on defining said individual for a lifetime. You need some help.

Sad how someone would say that he was the best driver you had ever seen but his death "made little impact on me really", and even worse that he should "die by the sword", all because of a single shunt with Prost. I do not consider you a true fan of the sport but apparently a person who seeks the worst in people and insists on defining said individual for a lifetime. You need some help.

It wasn't just a single shunt with Prost. Suzuka 1990 wasn't just a shunt, it was the only premeditated shunt on record until Singapore. The premeditation singles it out. Senna himself admitted it was premeditated.

If you check his record you will find that Senns was involved in more incidents with other cars than any other driver, he was the only driver to provoke physical violence from a competitor (Mansell at Spa, wasn't it?), he was the only driver to assault another driver for having blocked him (Irvine), etc. His skill is not in question, but his ego, arrogance, self belief, single mindedness or whatever you term it counterbalances the skill.

It's not a case of "seeking the worst", it is more a case of recognising the character flaws. How anyone who claims to be a true fan of the sport can deny the existence of Senna's dark side I cannot comprehend.

It wasn't just a single shunt with Prost. Suzuka 1990 wasn't just a shunt, it was the only premeditated shunt on record until Singapore. The premeditation singles it out. Senna himself admitted it was premeditated.

If you check his record you will find that Senns was involved in more incidents with other cars than any other driver, he was the only driver to provoke physical violence from a competitor (Mansell at Spa, wasn't it?), he was the only driver to assault another driver for having blocked him (Irvine), etc. His skill is not in question, but his ego, arrogance, self belief, single mindedness or whatever you term it counterbalances the skill.

It's not a case of "seeking the worst", it is more a case of recognising the character flaws. How anyone who claims to be a true fan of the sport can deny the existence of Senna's dark side I cannot comprehend.

Senna wasn't the only driver to assault another driver.Nigel Mansell took a swing at hím once (provoked or not, does anyone remember when this was?) and Nelson Piquet sr. practised his karate on Eliseo Salazar in 1982.Not that it matters if he was the only one or not. Or why they did it. I agree with you, though, that the tirade against Irvine was absolutely ridiculous.What was he thinking? I was a Senna fan until 1989. He went a bit crazy from then on. That's probably what happens when a whole nation treats you like a god.If you read the things people wrote about him back in 1984,1985.......It's so different from the things people wrote about him later in his career.